Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Makes New Investment in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 597 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $283,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Planning Capital Management Corp increased its stake in Moody’s by 566.7% during the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 60 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Moody’s by 272.2% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. Asset Planning Inc bought a new position in Moody’s during the 4th quarter worth $42,000. Albion Financial Group UT bought a new position in Moody’s during the 4th quarter worth $45,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management bought a new position in Moody’s during the 4th quarter worth $47,000. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total value of $133,087.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,314,236.28. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,124 shares of company stock valued at $552,193. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Moody’s Trading Down 1.4 %

NYSE MCO opened at $444.11 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $79.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34. Moody’s Co. has a twelve month low of $360.05 and a twelve month high of $531.93. The business’s fifty day moving average is $488.62 and its 200 day moving average is $482.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. This is an increase from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.85%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is presently 33.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group raised their target price on Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com downgraded Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Moody’s from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $528.77.

About Moody’s

Moody’s Corporation operates as an integrated risk assessment firm worldwide. It operates in two segments, Moody’s Analytics and Moody’s Investors Services. The Moody’s Analytics segment develops a range of products and services that support the risk management activities of institutional participants in financial markets.